Pink Saturday

I was given this beautiful Pink Gerbera Daisy and mug as a hostess gift.

After playing in Photoshop I turned the flowers and mug into photoart.

It brings to mind a wonderful quote by Elizabeth Murray

'Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,

and the soil and sky as canvas'

For more Pink Saturday join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

Friday's Favorite - Mount Stewart, Northern Ireland

For Friday's Favorite I am going to take you on a tour of Mount Stewart, one of the gardens hubby and I visited while on our trip to Northern Ireland. Mount Stewart is one of the most unique and unusal gardens of the National Trust's ownership. It was the home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry.

The garden reflects a rich taperstry of design and great planting artisitry that was the hallmark of Edith, Lady Londonderry.  The mild climate of Strangford Lough allows astonishing levels of planting experimentation.

The formal areas exude a strong Mediterranean feel and resemble an Italian villa landscape and the wooded areas support a range of plants from all corners of the world, ensuring something to see whatever the season.

The outdoor 'rooms' and parterres contain many rare plants that thrive in the mild climate of the Ards Peninsula.

Please join Claudia at Dipity Road to see where others are finding beauty.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend.

Native Plant Profile - Allium cernuum

Allium cernuum or Nodding Wild Onion is a favorite of mine for a partial shade area.  It has grass like ribbony leaves that are long and gracefull, very similar to a daylily leaf.  It has flower clusters that hang down and they are covered with a fine onion-skin-like sheath before opening.  It blooms in mid summer with whitish rose colored, bell shaped flowers.

Nodding wild onion grows in a very wide range of conditions from sun to partial sun, moist to dry soil, acidic to neutral or rocky to rich.  But it prefers good drainage so mix some sand into a heavy soil.

This one to two foot plant grows in Zones 3 to 9 and is easy to prograte from seed, which mature in early fall, and requires cold moist sratification to germinate. In spring or fall offset bulblets, which form beside mature bulbs, can be divided from the mother plant and replanted.

Today I am joining Clay and Limestone for

Wildflower Wednesday.

Mosaic Monday - A Gate

The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary describes a gate as a door or frame opening into an enclosing fence or wall; a barrier to block passage - and a gateway as an opening which is or may be closed with a gate.

We are curious by nature and a gate only increases our curiousity...where does the gate lead...what secret is it hiding.  A gate beckons us to travel through into the unknown, our imagination is simulated and we must see what lies beyond.

Time is not a portal...it is a moment.

The future is out of sight. The past is blurred...

the past is recall and each memory is dependent and differs.

The past is a mosaic, of shattered pieces that we try to hold together.

The future is our dream but today, now is our golden hour.

Open the gate, look, listen, breathe, love.

~ Author Unknown~

I am joining our wonderful host Mary for Mosaic Monday.

Mariner's Compass Quilt Dilemma Solved

Back in May I posted asking for some advice of what type of fabric to use to set the circles on my Mariner's Compass Wall Hanging. I took all your suggestions into consideration and here it is finished but not quilted, thank you everyone, I think it looks gorgeous.

I had hoped to start quilting it this month, but I have been invited to a Baby Shower and of course a new baby needs a quilt to sleep under. But once the baby quilt is finished I am going to use my new toy.

I have always wanted a sewing machine just for quilting and as you can see my new machine is larger than my Janome Quilters Campanion 6260. I have been sewing everything on that poor machine, a queen size quilt rolled up and put thru that small throat opening is not a pretty sight.

The new machine has only one stitch, straight, but has a knee lift which allows you to keep both hands on the quilt while doing free motion quilting plus a thread cutter. So I will use the Brother for quilting and all other work will still be done on my faithful old friend.

 I will show you the Baby Quilt before I go to the shower.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Mosaic Monday

The stage: A sunny and warm Saturday afternoon

The main players: My son and his finacee

Supporting cast:  Their families

The play: An engagement party

The critics write up:  A wonderful time was had by all the attendees and the happy couple received many well wishes from their families and friends.

I am joining the party at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe week.

Pink Saturday

While hubby and I were on vacation we found this amazing pink car.
I think it is so cute with the white wall tires, white roof and pretty scroll on the trunk.

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Native Plant Profile

It has been awhile since I posted about the native plants in my garden, so I am going to tell you about a great workhorse for the garden. Helianthus divaricatus, Woodland Sunflower, is flowering in my large woodland garden. It belongs to the Asteraceae or Aster family, grows 2 to 4 feet tall and flowers until September.

The woodland sunflower is native to woodlands, savannah or rocky bluffs from Maine and Ontario to Manitoba, south to Florida, Louisiana and Nebraska.  They tolerate sun, part shade, shade and dry. How wonderful for my sandy conditions.

The leaves are rough on the upper surface, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate in shape, tapering to a long point 3 to 8 inches long and 1/4 to 1/2" wide.  They can be divided in spring or autumn and attract birds to the garden. They make a wonderful addition to a dry shady area and look nice with Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan) and Aster divaricatus (White Wood Aster).

Mosaic Monday - Daylilies Blooming in the Garden

It is hard to believe that another Monday has arrived and time for Mosaic Monday.

I have decided to show a sample of the daylilies that are blooming in the garden.

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil,

getting dirty without feeling quilty and generally taking the time

to soak up a little peace and serenity.

~ Lindey Karstens ~

Join the party and visit Dear Little Red House to

view other mosaics.

Have a terrific week!

Pink Saturday

While out on the deck cooking dinner yesterday I noticed the Sweet Peas were flowering, they are a very solf mauve-pink, and thought I would put some in a vase. When I returned with the scissors, the female hummingbird was drinking nectar, I left her some flowers for later and wondered off into the garden to find companions for the sweet peas.

I found some candy tuft, selene, cosmos and coneflower in different shades of pink.

 I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. 

Friday's Finding Beauty

Do you remember the story about the Ugly Duckling.  In the story the ugly duckling cannot understand why he is not small and cute like all his brothers and sisters.

 He is quite large and gangly.

But he grows into this very majestic swan.

But he never realizes this until he looks at his reflection in the pond.

I am joining Claudia at Dipity Road for Finding Beauty.

Join the fun and see where others find beauty.

Scenic Views

It is very warm here, 40 degrees celsius with the humitiy and I have been indoors reading, quilting and blog hopping.  I thought I would take you on a trip up the Antrim Coast, some eighty miles of stunning coastline, to Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland.

The route is sprinkled with historic castles, churches and forts. Many are now just ruins but each holds the memories of a mysterious and heroic past.

Fabulous unspoilt beaches.

Rugged and windswept cliffs.

It is a journey not to be hurried, as every twist and turn in the road will reveal new sights.

Our destination is Dunluce Castle, a dramatic ruin that stands on a black basalt stack, 30 meters high, projecting out from the North Antrim coast.

The roofless ruins are breaktaking and when built the main impression would

have been of great strength, a stronghold impossible to conquer before gunpowder.

Under the castle a sea cave could hide a boat for a quick escape to Rathlin Island or Scotland.

We stopped at a small village for tea and encountered this family

of swans on the river. 

 

Later in the evening our journey back to the cottage

 takes us through Ballymoney to view the The Dark Hedges.

The sun sets on another wonderful day.

Mosaic Monday - A Celebration

For this special weekend I made two mosaics.

One for Canada Day, which was July 1st and
one for Independence Day, July 4th.

Red and White for Canada Day

Red, White and Blue for Independence Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful time celebrating their nations' birthday.

Join in the fun and visit our wonderful host, Mary at Little Red House.

Have a wonderful and safe week!

A Pink Quilt

While staying in Northern Ireland hubby and I rented what is called a 'Self-catering' cottage.

All the beds in the cottage had a quilt, but one had this lovely pink quilt.

I have never made a pink quilt, but after seeing this one I went through my stash looking for fabric.

And no pink to be found, anywhere, a problem easily fixed with a trip to my favorite quilt store.

The creative wheels are turning, I will keep you posted on my progress.

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for

 

Click the button and find more exciting pink posts.

Friday's Finding Beauty - The Walled Garden of Glenarm Castle

Please come with me for a tour of The Walled Garden on the grounds of Glenarm Castle. It is one of Ireland's oldest walled gardens dating from the 18th century.  Originally created to supply the castle with its' fruit and vegetables, The Walled Garden is now filled with exciting flowers and specimen plants.  In recent years, under the stewardship of head gardener, Nigel Marshall, The Walled Garden has undergone extensive restoration and improvements including new water features and in 2007 a new Mount was designed by Catherine Fitzgerald. 
It is home to the McDonnell family, Earls of Antrim, since the early 17th century, the castle is currently the home of Randal, Viscount Dunluce and his wife Aurora.

Step through the stone arch entrance.

And this is the view you see.

Turn left and wonder down the allee between the trees and garden.

Or turn right, listen to the bees in the hyssop hedge as you wonder pass the greenhouse.

And stop in awe at the sight of the garden beyond the greenhouse.

Climb the new mount to see an ariel view of some restoration work.

 Along the far wall of the garden is another magnificent garden.

'In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.

My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.

The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers,

and the dreams as beautiful.'

~Abram L. Urban~

Join Claudia at Dipity Road, to see how other bloggers find beauty.

Canada Day

Hello Friends:

I had a wonderful vacation and now the jet lag is catching up with me, I am finding it hard to get my internal clock back on the right time, thus I am blogging at midnight.  But I have wonderful stories and pictures to tell when I get the hundreds of pictures all sorted out.

 But today is July 1 and 'Canada Day' for folks in Canada so I thought I would tell you a bit about what Canada Day represents.

On July 1, 1867 the British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada as a federation of four

provinces.  This event is known as the confederation of Canada.  The four original provinces were created from the former British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada, which was divided into the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.  Canada's boundaries have extended since 1867 and the country now consists of 10 provinces and three territories.

On June 20, 1868 Canada's Governor General proclaimed that Canadians should celebrate the anniversary of the confederation.  July 1 became a statutory holiday, known as Dominion day in 1879.  However, no official celebrations were held until the 50th anniversary in 1917, and the 60th anniversary in 1927.  After World War II, Dominion Day was celebrated more frequently and more events were organized by the federal government.  After the centenary of the confederation in 1967, Dominion Day events became more widespread.  July 1 became popularly known as Canada Day.  The date was officially known as Canada Day from 1983 onwards, have a wonderful day!